Action 3 News Weather Blog

Happy last day of 2009 to all of you and what a cold day it will be! I am sitting here thinking about how quickly this year went by. It has been a cool and wet year for eastern Nebraska with little severe weather and LOTS of snow. Craig- to answer your question I double checked my numbers and NWS says average snowfall at Eppley from 1971 to 2000 is 28.0″ and 30.2″.    I’m forecasting bitter cold temps overnight tonight (-6°) and for the first day of 2010 (7°).    If the forecast holds true (& I would be willing to put money on it) New Years Day will be the coldest high and low in over 10 years!  Wow!!  Good thing I have the day off and can stay inside where it’s warm, which I’m recommending to everyone.Â
   We’re still on track to pick-up more snow over the weekend.  The storm will not be a major one but should provide a dusting to 1″ of snow.Â
   I hope you have a wonderful (& warm) final day of 2009 and that 2010 will bring you joy and many blessings!!
Happy New Year!
Liz

Hello to all of our faithful weather followers! Believe it or not this is my very first time blogging so bear with me as I’m not sure how long this will be. I’m watching it snow (again) outside the A3N studio. Must admit I’m happy to finally see it from inside versus freezing and standing in it (although it makes interesting tv). The snow will quickly move out of the area by this evening. Thankfully moisture is limited so we’ll only receive an additional half to one inch of snow by tonight. Painfully cold temperatures will follow a cold front that will blow through eastern Nebraska tonight. Highs for the next seven days will only warm into the teens with overnight lows below zero and into the single digits. Burrr!!!  Unfortunately I don’t see a warm-up anytime soon.   In addition to the cold, there is more snow in my 7-day specifically Friday & Saturday night into Sunday.  At this point still up in the air as to how much we will see.  So far this winter season Omaha has picked-up over 27″ of snow, that’s impressive considering our average is 30″ to 31″!!  Winter will be here for  a while!  I’ll update the weekend snow possibilities tomorrow. 

Stay warm!!
Liz

Happy Monday to you!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas weekend!  Much of the central U.S. weathered another major snowstorm in a matter of 3 weeks.  In the Omaha metro, it dumped at least 10 inches.  The following map and report are provided, for your benefit, from the National Weather Service office in Valley regarding the final totals from this event:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY, NEBRASKA
1134 AM CST SUN DEC 2009

BELOW ARE MULTI-DAY PRECIPITATION TOTALS FROM
DEC 23RD THROUGH DECEMBER 27TH

                                         PCPN.     SNOW
-ID-   -COUNTY-       -LOCATION-         (IN.)     (IN.)

       -EASTERN NEBRASKA (ASOS/AWOS)-

LNK    LANCASTER      LINCOLN ARPT ASOS  1.37      12.9
OFK    MADISON        NORFOLK ASOS       1.25      19.1
OMA    DOUGLAS        OMAHA EPPLEY ASOS  1.37      11.5
OAX    DOUGLAS        VALLEY NWS         1.75      14.5

       -EASTERN NEBRASKA (COOP)-

AUBN1  NEMAHA         AUBURN 5 ESE       1.45      14.1
DVDN1  BUTLER         DAVID CITY         1.50      12.5
FABN1  JEFFERSON      FAIRBURY           1.31       5.0
FCLN1  WASHINGTON     FORT CALHOUN       1.99      13.0
FMTN1  DODGE          FREMONT            1.85      14.0
FNDN1  SALINE         FRIEND 3 E         1.05       8.1
GRAN1  SARPY          GRETNA 4 NE        1.78      15.2
OKDN1  ANTELOPE       OAKDALE            0.57       7.7
PAWN1  PAWNEE         PAWNEE CITY        1.54      11.3
RYMN1  LANCASTER      RAYMOND 2 NE       1.34      12.8
SPNN1  SARPY          SPRINGFIELD 7 E    1.41      11.2
TEKN1  BURT           TEKAMAH            0.86       9.2
VDLN1  KNOX           VERDEL 6 SSW       1.07      15.0
BNTN1  DOUGLAS        BENNINGTON 3WSW    2.04      15.2
NLHN1  ANTELOPE       NELIGH               MM      16.0
PPLN1  SARPY          PAPILLION          1.52      14.4
SBTN1  RICHARDSON     SHUBERT            1.53      13.5

       -SOUTHWEST IOWA (COOP)-

CLDI4  PAGE           CLARINDA           1.62      12.0
GLNI4  MILLS          GLENWOOD           1.10      10.0
HRLI4  SHELBY         HARLAN 1 N         1.64      10.7
LSXI4  HARRISON       LITTLE SIOUX 2 NW  1.74      17.0
LOGI4  HARRISON       LOGAN              1.71      15.5
OAKI4  POTTAWATTAMIE  OAKLAND            1.39      13.7
ROKI4  MONTGOMERY     RED OAK            1.62      11.4
SDHI4  PAGE           SHENANDOAH         2.28      15.5
HSII4  MILLS          HASTINGS           2.67      10.0

The following link from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center has information about storm impacts on other parts of the country:  http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/nfdscc1.html

Some of you have asked me, “how is snow measured?”  There’s a precise way to do it, instead of just sticking a yardstick somewhere random in your yard.  For some insight to the recommended procedure, check out this link containing the online tutorial from the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow (CoCoRaHS) Network: http://www.cocorahs.org/Media/Training/Training_Snow.html

Let’s hope we don’t get another big storm anytime soon!  Thankfully, other than a midweek clipper and a possible light snow for our area on Sunday, it looks quiet heading into New Year’s!

A quick update as we head into Saturday. Areas of snow will continue into Saturday Morning. Snowfall Friday Night into Saturday will be another 2-4 inches here in Omaha. Winds will continue strong at times with blowing and drifting snow continuing to be the main concern. Temperatures will be steady tonight and Saturday from the upper teens to the mid 20s. The storm should pull out during the day Saturday will slow improvements.

Good Morning and Merry Christmas!

Forecast still on track with updates going back to yesterday afternoon. We have recieved about 6-10 inches of snow so far across the metro with some heavier amounts to the east and less west of town…good luck trying to get an acurate measurement with this wind! LOL More snow will accumulate through tonight with another 3 to 7 inches on the way. Additional snow will depend just what this storm decides to do but several more inches will fall. This will bring totals to over a foot in Omaha by Saturday morning. This along with winds gusting over 40 mph through tonight will continure to cause white out conditions thus the Blizzard Warning is till in effect through Saturday Morning. If you don’t have to drive I wouldn’t recommend it with drifting snow causing a lot of problems on the roads. Try to enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend!

Ryan